Spot of Colour
by Jetainia
Summary: Martin is determined to avoid Jon and anyone else who might drag him out of the Lonely's grasp before he stops the Extinction. But sometimes, he can't quite ignore the old urges to hover and care for. (The Magnus Archives)


**Forum Block  
**Stacked With: MC4A (Ship; Hang; FF; SoC; PP; StL; VV; ER)  
Individual Challenges: In a Flash; New Fandom Smell (Y); Metahuman MC; Seeds; Cuppa; Tissue Warning; Letter of the Day; Themes & Things A (Y); Themes & Things B (Y); Time for Change (Y); No Proof; Setting Sail; This Week's Sponsors (Y); Statement Begins (Y); Themes & Things F (Y)  
Representation: Snow; Magnus Archives; Angst; Jon/Martin  
Bonus Challenges: Jack's Jollies; Second Verse (Morrigan's tentacles); Chorus (Unicorn)  
Word count: 799

* * *

Martin barely noticed the cold anymore, it was already so seeped into his bones through the Lonely that any atmospheric temperature was almost unrecognisable. He knew it was winter by the jackets, scarfs, hats, and gloves that all the other people wore around him. He wore his own winter clothes to help him blend in but they truly did nothing for him. He wondered if Peter would be _proud_ of him for that, just like he was _proud_ of so many other things Martin had exhibited the further he sunk into the Lonely—whether or not they were true, Peter couldn't know (unless, of course, Elias was watching and talking).

He only noticed the snow when the moisture set in and there was no mist surrounding him. People hurried past him, blurry in the light flurry of snow and almost as though they were in their own dimension of the Lonely, all of them separated by frozen water. He idly wondered if Jon noticed the snow, if he liked it or ever made snowmen.

When he arrived at the Institute, he had to resist the urge to make two cups of tea instead of the one for himself. With the cold outside, he knew how much a warm drink could warm a person up. The thoughts of Jon and the rest of the Archives staff were pushed aside as he padded silently through the halls with his cup of tea to the isolated office that belonged to him now.

He sat at his desk, sipping his tea and staring out of the window that Peter had allowed him to have (he said it would enhance the feeling of being alone, Martin just liked the view). He tapped his fingers absently against the porcelain, knowing he should do some work but also knowing that Peter didn't really care if Martin actually worked on things he should be doing as Assistant to the Interim Director (the research and statements possibly linked to the Extinction were another matter but Martin didn't have any new statements waiting on his desk to read and his own research had slowed down).

Without quite knowing what he was doing, Martin walked out of his office and down to the Archives. He walked past Basira and Daisy in the breakroom, sipping their own teas before no doubt starting work. Melanie was muttering to herself and harshly stapling papers together when he passed her desk.

His goal, one Jonathon Sims, was sleeping at his desk, head pillowed on a statement and a silent tape recorder sitting next to him. Martin stared at the sleeping Archivist silently, wondering why he had even come down here when he had tried so hard to avoid Jon ever since he woke up. He sighed and left the office again, trying to ignore the deed he was about to do as well as pretend he wasn't about to do it at all.

Basira and Daisy were gone when he entered the breakroom and it was silent as Martin made a cup of tea. He carried it to Jon's office and only hesitated a moment before placing it carefully on a clear spot on Jon's desk. The man was still sleeping, bringing back memories of when he lay unresponsive on a hospital bed, but Martin knew this time it was a sleep Jon needed. He certainly looked as if he didn't get enough of it and knowing Jon like he did, Martin was sure he was working until he dropped only to start working again when he got back up.

It didn't matter, Martin told himself as he made his way back to his own silent and lonely office, leaving behind the murmur of Melanie's grumbling and the shuffle of paper from Basira and Daisy's work. _It didn't matter_, Martin told himself again as he found himself picking up his own woollen scarf (an early knitting project that he had used to practice changing wools) and taking it back to Jon who had no winter gear to speak of in his office anywhere.

_It didn't matter_, Martin told himself sternly when he caught sight of Jon walking out of the Institute ahead of him, wrapped up in a cheerful looking scarf with multiple stripes of different colours. The warm glow he felt at seeing Jon wearing Martin's scarf meant nothing, nor did the way Jon fiddled with the ends of Martin's scarf.

The world was still hidden in flurries of snow as they both left the Magnus Institute but now Jon was a beacon of colour in an otherwise dull world. Martin thought that maybe if he caught up to Jon, he would no longer be wondering the world of the Lonely. But it didn't matter either way; Martin had a job to do.


End file.
